Adam Montefiore

Adam S. Montefiore (born 10 November 1957 in London) is in the wine trade. He emigrated to Israel from England in 1989.[1]

Career

Adam Montefiore works in the wine trade and he is a specialist in Israeli wines. He has been involved in advancing Israeli wines for over thirty years. He has been referred to as 'The Ambassador of Israeli Wine,' and 'The English Voice of Israeli Wine.'[2][3] He is the wine writer for the Jerusalem Post and has written books on Israeli wine.[4]

Montefiore worked for many years for Charrington and Crest Hotels (both part of the Bass Charrington Group), starting in beer and moving into wine. He studied wine at the WSET and was a Founder and later Honorary member of The Academy of Wine Service. He first started working with Israeli wine in the 1980s, helping the Yarden, Gamla and Golan wines gain a foothold in the UK.

He moved to Israel in 1989. He then worked for two of Israel's most famous wineries, Carmel Winery and Golan Heights Winery. In the 1990s he played his part in the building of the successful brand of Yarden. In the 2000s he was part of the renewal of Carmel and the successful launch of Yatir Winery, a subsidiary of Carmel.[4][5]. In the 2010s he built the brand and marketing concept for Montefiore Winery.(www.montefiorewines.net). Throughout this time, he played a prominent role as an advocate of Israeli wines throughout the world, and particularly in the USA, Europe and the Far East.

He regularly writes about wine. He has been the wine writer for the Jerusalem Post since 2010. He also writes about wine for the Jewish Chronicle and www.wines-israel.com . For many years he has contributed to Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book, Oz Clarke's Wine A to Z, The World Atlas of Wine and he writes the section on Israel and Kosher for Jancis Robinson MW's Oxford Companion to Wine.

He is now a partner in both The Israel Wine Experience (www.israelwinexp.com), which educates about Israeli wine and Handcrafted Wines of Israel (http://www.israelwinexp.com/handcrafted-wines-of-israel/), which markets a prestigious group of boutique wineries. He is also CEO of Adam Montefiore Wine Consultancy, with a number of leading wineries as his clients. (http://adammontefiore.com/wine-consultant/).

Personal life

Adam Sebag Montefiore was born in Kensington, London. His father was Dr. Stephen Eric Sebag-Montefiore. They are descended from a line of wealthy Sephardi Jews who were diplomats and bankers who originated from Italy and Morocco.

After the Edict of Expulsion was issued against the Jews in Spain of 1492, some of Montefiore's ancestors stayed in the country whilst remaining secretly Jewish. During the reign of Philip II of Spain, one of them became governor of a province of Mexico, where he and his family were denounced by a political rival and tortured by the Inquisition. Two teenaged girls were burned alive in Mexico City while a son escaped to Italy and changed his name to Montefiore.

The Montefiore family came from near Rimini and Ancona on the Adriatic coast of Italy, probably originating in the small hill town of Montefiore Conca or possibly Montefiore dell'Asso. The Sebags came from Mogador in Morocco, known today as Essaouira. In the 18th century the Montefiores and Sebags moved to England. Adam Montefiore's great, great grandfather was Sir Joseph Sebag-Montefiore, the nephew and heir of Sir Moses Montefiore. In the early 19th century Sir Moses Montefiore was an international financier and a business partner of his brother-in-law, Nathan Mayer Rothschild. He became a philanthropist and was a famous figure in the history of both the Jewish people and Israel.[3]

Adam Montefiore's mother, Phyllis April Jaffé, an author, comes from a Lithuanian Jewish family of scholars. Her parents fled the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. They bought tickets for New York City, but were cheated, being instead dropped off at Cork, Ireland. Due to the Limerick pogrom in 1904 his grandfather Henry Jaffé left the country and moved to Newcastle, England.

Adam Montefiore is the brother of Hugh Sebag-Montefiore, the writer, Rupert Sebag-Montefiore, ex chairman of Savills estate agents and Simon Sebag-Montefiore, the historian. He was educated at Wellesley House and Wellington College. In 1989 he moved to Israel, where he lives in Ra'anana, north of Tel Aviv. Adam Montefiore and his children represent the fifth and sixth generation of the family and the first to live in Israel. He was married for 33 years to Gillian (Jill) Leah Montefiore, who passed away in 2015. He has three children, Dr. Liam Murphy Sebag-Montefiore, David Jonathan Montefiore and Rachel Leah Montefiore, and five grandchildren. Two of his children, David and Rachel, also work in the wine trade.

Books

  • The Book of New Israeli Food, 2007, with Janna Gur
  • The Wine Route of Israel, 2012, with Eliezer Sacks
  • Wines of Israel, 2012, with Eliezer Sacks
  • The Wine Route of Israel, 2015, with Eliezer Sacks
  • Shvill Ha'Yayin, 2016, with Eliezer Sacks

References

  1. ↑ "Adam Montefiore: A Driven Passion for the Wines of Israel". April 26, 2010. Huffington Post. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  2. ↑ "The Ambassador of Israeli Wine". wines-israel.com. 13 March 2010. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  3. ↑ Kronemer, Gamliel (1 March 2012). "The English Voice of Israeli Wine". The Jewish Week'. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  4. 1 2 Rhodes, David (1 February 2012). "Old Vines Run Deep". israeli-wine.org. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  5. ↑ "Montefiore Returns To London". Wine & Gourmet Magazine. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  • http://www.jpost.com/Author/Adam-Montefiore
  • Halle, Charlotte (10 May 2002). "Reviving the Montefiore windmill". Haaretz. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  • http://winesisrael.com/en/3497/adam-montefiore-leaves-carmel/
  • http://winesisrael.com/en/3678/new-beginnings/
  • https://www.jpost.com/Author/Adam-Montefiore-Wine-Talk
  • www.adammontefiore.com
  • Montefiore Wines
  • www.carmelwines.co.il
  • www.golanwines.co.il
  • www.wines-israel.com
  • www.yatirwinery.com
  • www.israelwinexp.com
  • www.montefiorewines.net

See also

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